The Ushi No Tane websites specialize in information, FAQs, and guides about the Nintendo console versions of the Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, and Legend of the River King video games. These game genres are created and published in Japan by Marvelous (JP). In other regions, you'll find Natsume, XSeed Games/Marvelous (USA), Marvelous (EU), and Rising Star involved in the series' release.

The latest version of the mainstream farming series that have been released in various regions of the world are:

• Japan: Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (January 2023)
• North America: Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos (September 2023) and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (June 2023)
• Europe: Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos (October 2023) and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (June 2023)

The latest version of River King, in all regions of the world, is River King: Mystic Valley (JP 2007, NA 2008, EU 2009).

Since 2000, Ushi no Tane has been run by a grouchy old lady who happens to be fond of video game agriculture along with two feline helpers: Intern Captain Bootu and Intern Hondo Mewnaka. The website is not officially affiliated, sponsored, endorsed, or employed by the developers of Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, or River King. This is simply a fan site.

Latest Farming Video Game News

Happy Farm'n Friday! We started putting things back together in the office rooms last week, which allowed me to finally pull most of the farming game guidebooks and some promo plushies out of the boxes in the garage. There's another box somewhere with the larger books, like the GerryGuides' Harvest Moon 64 Guide and a few issues of the short-lived Marvelous magazine.

Mr.Fogu bought a new standing desk so he can continue to use his PC when the interns hijack his office chair (which they looooove to do). His old desk has moved into my fancy farm'n office, where it'll be up-cycled and improved with some groovy 1970s-style wallpaper. His mom stopped by today and asked if the air hockey table would return to the room. Ha! No way that giant disc-paddle machine is coming back. I just got my own space again!

SoS:AWL Gameplay Notes

I have made it to Chapter 5 of the game, and Edith is all grown up. The teenage years of Chapter 4 were a bit lonely and awkward for her. She would simply greet me or respond with "What?" (なに?) and hardly ever smiled. Edith's mood seems to have improved a bit now that she's full grown, though she's still making her way in life.

One thing that pops up occasionally is the wish for the kid to take over the farm. Nami asked at the end of Chapter 4 if I had hoped that would happen, and during the Starry Night festival, there is an option to wish for the child to take an interest in running the farm. Even when not showing her anything about plants and not choosing the farm choices, she's still increasing her interest in agriculture faster than becoming an artist or scholar.

While the child's initial interests are determined by the spouse chosen at the end of Chapter 1, the gender of the child doesn't have any factor in the skills they are more proficient in. They also like the same gifts whether they're a boy or a girl. So feel free to pick whichever you want, or allow the game to choose for you, as you'll have the same skills whether the child is a boy or a girl.

I think the camera function could use some improvement. The characters won't stop and pose when trying to take their picture. By the time I'm ready to snap the photo, oftentimes the photo subject has moved out of frame. A selfie mode lets you take a picture with the subject, but again, you have to hope they don't move during the 5 seconds you have to position yourself into the frame.

The captured pictures go into the photo album, accessible from the farm notebook inside the house. The pictures are also small compared to the amount of screen space available to view them. It would have been great to use the camera and the album to share great in-game photographs with our fellow farming friends, or use them for developing an online guide.

Another thing I've noticed is with crops and the amount of time they take to grow. Some crops will take longer than 10 days to grow, especially some third-generation crops. When preparing to plant a seed for a crop that could possibly wilt because of a season change, head over to the hybrid-plant Tsurudan and give them a Happy Lamp Flower along with the seed bag. Tsurudan will work their magic and infuse the seed with the ability to grow in any season. That way, any long-term growth plants will survive a season change they aren't meant to grow in. Happy Lamp Flowers can be found during summer, so collect as many as you can and keep them in the farm warehouse until needed. Happy Lamp cannot be purchased from Van like with the Trickblue Flowers he sells all year long.

This remake of A Wonderful Life does not have a Milking Shed barn extension. Instead, we have a super special Golden Milker that will milk all the cows within its area of effect. If the cow can't be milked, the milker won't activate, which is good because trying to milk a cow when she's not ready makes for a grouchy cow! There is also an upgraded super milker called the Goddess Milker that can be obtained by completing a task from the town bulletin board. This milker increases its area to cover about half the pasture field area.

The butter and cheese machines from the old AWL Milking Shed have been moved to a new building next to Takakura's house.

There is also a Goddess Clippers tool that will sheer 2 wool from a sheep instead of 1 wool. With Golden Wool selling for 6000 G each, and even more if you barter for a higher price with Van, this tool is very convenient for increasing farm income!

It's been over a month since the game's release in Japan, and Weekly Famitsu estimates that physical sales have dropped down to 2534 units last week, with an overall 60,443 units since its release. That's still pretty low for a modern-day Bokumono game in Japan. I'm sure those of us overseas will buy more than that!

Mega-Turnip Reissue

With the special rerelease of the XL Cow last week, arcade game merchandise manufacturer FANSCLUB announced they will also be rereleasing the Springy Turnip Plush XL Premium pillow as an arcade prize at participating game centers in Japan during March. This mega squishy veggie was initially released for a month in March 2021 to promote Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, which had just launched on Nintendo Switch in Japan. This large root veggie is about 14.5 inches tall (about 36 cm), with wired turnip leaves sticking out the top.

FS for Mobile Devices

The popular farming game from Giants Software will be released for Nintendo Switch and mobile smartphones globally on May 23. Titled Farming Simulator 23, the sequel to the Switch and mobile Farming Simulator 20 contains some of the goodies from the large-console and PC Farming Simulator 22, plus some new functions like auto-loading logs and pallets and two maps that are unique to this version. The mobile/Switch flavor of the FS series doesn't have the mod support that console/PC players enjoy.

The press release from Giants Software states:

Different types of machines help with all activities on the farm and beyond: More than 100 authentic vehicles and tools from world-renowned manufacturers such as Case IH, CLAAS, DEUTZ-FAHR, Fendt, John Deere, KRONE, Massey Ferguson, New Holland, Valtra & many others are included in the game.

New gameplay mechanics allow various production chains, whereas players produce flour from their harvested wheat to sell bread – or furniture from wood, or even clothes from sheep wool! Plowing and weeds offer more new activities as additional options to cultivate the fields.

Crops and Animals on Two Entertaining Maps

No farm without animals: Farming Simulator 23 newly adds chickens to cows, horses, pigs, and sheep. Whether breeding, collecting eggs, or riding out on a horse, all these cute animals enrich the farm life.

Grapes, olives, and sorghum are new among the 14 crops to harvest. Players can also take a stroll and search for collectibles or simply enjoy the seasonal visual changes in the landscapes: There is a lot to explore in Amberstone and Neubrunn, the two unique maps, inspired by environments in the USA and Europe.

The improved tutorial mode, AI helper, and the new auto-loading feature for logs and pallets support the players in their farming career. In May, it's time to start farming anywhere you want to let the good times grow!

Everdream Valley Release Window Announced

Indie farming game Everdream Valley has revealed a planned release sometime in Spring 2023. While the Steam/PC version is almost ready for release, the latest announcement confirms that this farming game will also be launched on Playstation4/5 and Nintendo Switch. Publisher Untold Games released a new trailer to promote the upcoming announcement of this cozy helping-grandparents-rebuild-their-farm game:

If you want to try it out, there is a free demo of the Steam/PC version of the game available on the Steam Store page:

• Everdream Valley | Steam Store

Indie Game Updates

Stairway Games' Coral Island will receive a spring update sometime this month. This game update will add ducks and sheep, a level 3 house upgrade, a new storyline chapter, a tree-planting festival, new fruit trees, custom key bindings for keyboards and controllers, accessibility improvements (such as font size options), and more. You can read the full list of incoming improvements on the Dev Update article.

1Million Bits Horde announced this week that console versions of Spirit of the Island are planned for a Quarter 2 (April/May/June) 2023 window. The console versions of SoTI will support crossplay with the Steam version of this island building and farming adventure game.

Soda Den announced that they are working on more language options for Roots of Pacha. In the future, there will be Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish language support for their prehistoric farming and clan-building game. Soda Den will also be showing off the game at PAX East on March 23.

Progress is moving forward with the after-life farming game, Cloudscape. Game developer Konitama has been busy implementing NPC villagers, such as adding movement paths, schedules, events, dialog conversations, and giving gifts. Konitama has also implemented a town request board to boost affection with villagers and earn special rewards as requests are completed. A mailbox delivery system, town shops, and player-applied fragrances will also be there. Cloudscape plans to launch a beta sometime this year, but this game does not have a formal release date yet.

Until next time!

Cher
(We still have to paint the hallway... fun times!)